Not surprisingly, among those 70 largest cities, the ones on its list of Bicycle Friendly Communities had twice the rate of bicycle commuting as those not on the BFC list. Among the top 10 bicycle commuting cities, only New Orleans and Boston don't have the bicycle friendly status.

The New Orleans Times Picayune explained that gasoline prices and economic downturn may have put some commuters in its city on bicycles, but it attributed the biggest encouragement to bicycle lanes installed on major thoroughfares in recent years.

Here are the 10 top big cities for bicycle commuting, and the ones where growth has been greatest since 2000.

Top 10 bicycle commuting big cities

1. Portland, Oregon – 5.81%

2. Minneapolis – 3.86%

3. Seattle – 2.99%

4. San Francisco – 2.98%

5. Oakland – 2.53%

6. New Orleans – 2.47%

7. Honolulu – 2.34%

8. Washington DC – 2.17%

9. Philadelphia – 2.16%

10. Boston – 2.11%

Top 10 big cities with the most bicycle commuting growth since 2000

1. Atlanta – 244%

2. Portland, OR – 230%

3. Cincinnati – 212%

4. Pittsburgh – 206%

5. Tulsa – 203%

6. Baltimore – 201%

7. Virginia Beach – 193%

8. Detroit – 192%

9. Buffalo – 158%

10. Philadelphia – 151%

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